Date / Venu
3rd July : Concert at Schloss Steyregg in Linz, Austria
5th July : Concert at Weltmuseum Wien in Vienna, Austria
7th July : Concert at Manggah Museum in Krakow, Poland
9th July : Concert at the Asian and Pacific Museum in Warsaw, Poland

Programs
Kangen “Oshikicho no netori”, “Senshuraku”, Introduction of Gagaku Instruments, “Saiouraku-ha”,” Jyusuiraku”(performed only in Linz), Bugaku “Hokuteiraku”, “Ryoo”, “Urayasu-no-Mai”

Organized by Embassy of Japan in Austria, Embassy of Japan in Poland

　　　The 2019 Austria-Poland Gagaku concert was held from July 2 to July 11. Commemorating the 100th year of the diplomatic relations between Japan and Poland and the 150th year of Japan and Austria, the concerts were planned for the further prosperity of the involved nations and the humanity under the theme of “ 100 years, 150 years or even more toward 1000 years: The Celebration Concert by Gagaku Orchestra which has a history of one thousand years”.

　　　The city of Linz is located 300km west of Vienna. The venue was Schloss Steyregg, a historical castle located in the middle of a hill in the city. The owner of the castle, count Salum, played a key role in making the sister city relationship between Nasushiobara and Linz and since then he has made a significant contribution toward both cities’ exchange activities. About 180 people including local dignitaries came to the venue and enjoyed gagaku performance to deepen their understanding of Japanese culture.
At the reception held after the concert, a tea ceremony hosted by Mr. Yoichiro Iguchi, president of the Kitanodai Gagaku Ensemble and Mrs. Mineko Iguchi, vice president, was offered to the guests. The guests were very pleased with the taste of tea.

　　　This is the fourth time that the Kitanodai Gagaku Ensemble held its concert at the Weltmuseum Wien. The gagaku concert was held as a main event for the program called “the Summer Festival in Japan” to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the establishing diplomatic relations between Japan and Austria. There were about 300 distinguished guests gathered for the event and among them were Ambassador Kiyoshi Koinuma, Dr. Christian Schicklgruber, director of the Weltmuseum Vienna, and Mr. Diethard Leopold, president of the Austria-Japan Society. Dr. Noriko Brandl, vice president of the Austria-Japan Society, introduced the gagaku program and the instruments. The concert was well received by the guests and Ambassador Koinuma expressed his gratitude for the gagaku concert.

　　　It took us about a half day trip to cover 500 km by bus from Vienna to Krakow. The city of Krakow is an old capital city with a medieval atmosphere. A gagaku concert was held for the first time at the Manggah Museum which exhibits a collection of Japanese Ukiyoe collected by Feliks Jasieński. About 250 people came to the concert. The emcee of the program said, “The concert was well received by the guests because of the high-level performance of Kangen and Bugaku. In addition, the introduction of each gagaku instrument was simple and very good. It was a unique experience for most of us to get to know about gagaku.”

　　　The performance was held at the entrance hall of the Asian and Pacific Museum, located in a quiet residential neighborhood in Warsaw. It was a small hall but had good acoustics. About 180 people came and enjoyed the concert. One attendee commented: “I was very excited to hear unique music and it was a wonderful chance for me to listen to a live gagaku music, one of the oldest music in the world. I was thrilled to be so close to the musicians. It was a very interesting step toward learning Japanese cultures.” We also heard that during the last performance of bugaku dance, Urayasu, someone was moved to tears by the performance. Mr. Horiuchi, director of Japan Information Center at the Embassy of Japan in Poland was also at the concert and gave the following comment: “A lot of people were impressed with the Ensemble’s high quality of the music and a wonderful program.”